


All Crashing Down

by Angelicat2



Series: Yin and Yang [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is mean at the second half, Angry Shiro (Voltron), Fantastic Racism, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Keith can't feel pain, Post-Episode: s02e08 The Blade of Marmora, Protective Shiro (Voltron), Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-29 19:14:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18784459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelicat2/pseuds/Angelicat2
Summary: Keith doesn't say anything about his injuries after the Marmora trials. When Kolivan reveals that Keith is part Galra, the others on the team find out Keith also can't feel pain.





	All Crashing Down

Keith was sure that he was hurt.

He didn’t think his shoulder was healed. He thinks he can feel blood dripping over his skin and into the skin-tight suit he’s in. He knew he had dozens of bruises painting his body and plenty of bruises on those ones. A few cuts littered his pale skin in random places, most hidden by his armor. His head felt a little lightheaded, and everything was swaying softly around him. His eyes were blurry on the edges like a torn film with black spots ripping their way into it. Moving was hard to do even if it brought no pain. Listening to others was just as impossible. 

He was Galra.

That’s why he couldn’t feel pain. Because he was part of the people who didn’t seem to feel anything. The same people who had murdered Allura and Coran’s home. The ones who had taken Pidge’s family away from her. The ones who had tortured the only guy who had ever cared about him. The same ones who took his arm.

The haze closed in as his body felt heavier. 

It had been his genetics that caused this. Somewhere in there, they didn’t match and had fucked him over, leaving him like this. He wanted to laugh bitterly at the whole thing. For the longest of time, he wanted to know who he was and where he came from and why he had this painless problem.

Now, he wished he hadn’t found out.

He listed to the side as his world spun. He felt sick to his stomach as he began to tip to the floor. Something - someone - shouted something he couldn’t make out before he collapsed to the ground. Someone caught him gently, but he was too far gone to know who and what they were doing. Voices spoke around him as his vision darkened like day turning into night super quickly. 

“It’s okay, Keith,” a voice whispered through the fog as a hand brushed through his bangs, “I got you, buddy. Get some rest.”

Keith passed out, too tired and distressed to stay awake any longer as a chill ran down his spine.

…..

“WHAT THE QUIZNAK HAPPENED TO MY RED PALADIN?” Allura shouted as she snarled at the Blade leader. Shiro stood ready to stop her if she tried attacking. This wasn’t helping her feelings toward the Galra, and Shiro frowned as he took in the room. Keith was now in a pod, beginning to be healed from the wounds he had received from the trials. They had been worse than when Shiro had last seen them when he had helped Keith change into his armor and bandaged him up. Blood still littered the floor in thick splotches like paint on a canvas, and Shiro winced. He should have noticed how hurt Keith was. He was the only one who knew that Keith couldn’t feel any of the wounds he had. He should have gotten him into a pod as soon as they had landed, but Keith had insisted on being able to make it through a meeting. 

The three younger stood off to the side with nervous faces. Coran leaned against the pod that held Keith, making some tweaks and adjustments to the machine. No one spoke for a full minute as Kolivan stared at the princess.

“What have you done to my paladin?” She muttered coldly this time, glaring right at the man with the coldest look she had ever given anyone, “I will not make an alliance with people who have beaten my paladins nearly to death.”

No one said anything.

“And why did he not seek treatment?” The young woman asked as she glared at the much taller Galra, “You arrived nearly two vargas ago. He wouldn’t have passed out if he had just told us about this.”

Shiro flinched. There were multiple reasons Keith hadn’t mentioned it. He didn’t think he deserved it after what he found. He probably thought it was some type of cosmic payback for being the species who had hurt those he cared about. He thought Allura would be pissed if he did use a pod. He thought he could get through it fine since he couldn’t feel the pain. He probably hadn’t noticed it anyway with his thoughts going in circles. It was startling news to find out what they did.

“Your paladin took our trials,” Kolivan began, “He was told to come unarmed, and it was the only way for him to prove the knife he brought was his.”

“And you nearly killed him!”

“He knew the risks he was taking when he agreed to it,” the man spoke as he raised a brow, “And he accomplished what few do on his first try. If need be, the Blade would like to recruit him if possible.”

“Recruit him?” Shiro asked as he glared at the Galra this time, “We’ll leave that up to Keith if he wants to. But you have to understand why I’m wary of him going with you.”

“Ah, yes,” the man nodded as he looked at the teen in the pod, something like a proud smile on the corner of his lip before it settled to normal, “It’s good that he has someone looking out for him. However, I think my Blades would know more about his...condition.”

Shiro grew cold. How could Kolivan know? How could-

_“You can’t feel pain, Keith!” The fake Shiro called out to the younger who had was clenching his knife like a lifeline, “Maybe you can’t feel anything! After all, you’re cold and uncaring to everyone. You can blame it on your genetics all you want, but we both know you have no feelings. You never did!”_

Shiro jerked from his thoughts as Kolivan looked him over with a knowing expression. The human frowned as he glanced at the pod holding Keith. His best friend was slowly healing, the bruises vanishing from sight. Keith’s expression though was a bit turbulent, brows pushed down and frown on his lips. Shiro hoped he didn’t have a nightmare while in the pod.

“What ‘condition’?” Allura demanded as she scowled at them, looking seconds away from attacking Kolivan, “What are you talking about? If my paladin’s been sick this whole time, it would have been good to be informed of such before now.”

“The Blade is mostly made up of pure - or rather, as pure as can be with 10,000 years - Galra,” the man explained as Antok nodded from beside him, face still covered, “So they are usually safe from genetic issues. Hybrids, however, have a much higher risk of developing genetic mutations, especially if both sides don’t match up right as is the case with your paladin.”

“What?” Allura’s face turned to stone as she glared at Keith, who would have winced if he were awake, “Are you saying that Keith is Galra?”

“That is how he awoke his blade,” the older nodded as he glanced at Shiro and back, “We only allow those of Galra descent into our organization.”

“He’s Galra!” Allura hissed as she glared at the pod before turning to the man, “I don’t know what you are playing at with this, but I advise you not to lie.”

“I assure you, I’m not,” Kolivan narrowed his eyes before glancing at Keith and to Shiro and back, “And if not for the concern your Black Paladin has shown for the young one, I’d take him back with us where he would be treated without such anger.”

“Oh, like any Galra knows how to treat anyone better,” Allura stepped closer to the man with ice in her eyes. Shiro stepped forward while laying his hand on her arm to stop her. Allura turned hurt eyes on him as if expecting him not to stand by his best friend’s side, “How long did you know?”

“Allura,” Coran began to interrupt, but she held on strong, glaring at Shiro.

“How long did you two know?”

“We just learned about Keith being part Galra,” Shiro answered softly, making sure to look right at the woman to make sure she could see that he was telling the truth, “But we knew about his genetic disorder for years now.”

“And you didn’t suspect anything,” she scowled as her tone turned rough, “You should have told us so we cou-”

“‘So we could’ what?” Shiro asked as anger flared in his body as he carefully pushed her away from him and Keith’s pod, standing in front of it protectively, “So we could isolate Keith from the group before this even became a team? Keith’s been on his own for a year before this, and he doesn’t need more of that. So we could have prevented him from being on the team? The Red Lion opened up to him for a reason, Allura. I get that you are devastated by this, and feel hurt that Keith has ancestry from the people who took so much from you, but Keith is still Keith. He’s been through just as much as we have, Allura, but that hasn’t stopped him from being caring and loyal. When I got to know him, Keith had no one. I won’t let it go back to that because I promised I’d never give up on him. So if you’re angry at anyone, be angry at the people who actually hurt you. Take it out on Zarkon or Haggar or the Empire. It’ll take some time, but remember that Keith had nothing to hide. He never knew.”

The Altean glared at him, but he could see the tears gathering. He felt bad for her because he understood perfectly well the agony. He didn’t have anyone in his blood family left. His was-going-to-be fiance left. He was hurt by the same people she was mad at, his arm stolen and replaced with a weapon. His body was slowly wasting away as they spoke, and who knew how long he’d survive regardless of this big war they were currently fighting. He understood it all well.

But he wasn’t going to let them drag Keith down. The younger might not be able to feel physical pain, but he could feel emotional ones.

“And we couldn’t have known anyway,” he explained as he glanced at Keith’s pod, about to reveal something he should wait for, but knew he had to tell to truly get it through to the hurting Altean princess, “Back on Earth, people do get what Keith has. It’s a genetic disorder, but in no way does it link back to heritage. Allura, Keith didn’t want you guys to know, but you remember that day we trained?”

“What about it?” She scoffed as she crossed her arms, “Keith just had to mess up the whole by jumping in front of you recklessly. Just like every Galra.”

“He almost died that day.”

The room went silent. Even Allura didn’t say anything as Coran’s face morphed into a sad one. Shiro nodded at the older man who stared at the younger paladin’s pod. Shiro himself looked at the now spotless face before him. 

“What do you mean?” Pidge asked hesitantly as she raised a brow, “Keith needed a pod, but it was just a cut, right?”

“No, the bot’s sword cut straight through his shoulder,” Coran spoke up, completely serious, “Number Four didn’t tell us about it for a while, almost too long. He almost bled out, but we got him into a pod in time.”

“Because he literally can’t tell us,” Shiro muttered as he stared at his clenched fist, knowing what it was like to be bothered by something you couldn’t control, “Keith can’t tell us when he’s hurt because he doesn’t know.”

“But that would mean…” Hunk stated with concern in his eyes as Shiro nodded.

“Keith can’t feel pain,” Shiro laughed bitterly under his breath before bracing a hand on the pod, “The first time I found out about it, Keith was bleeding from a large cut on his shoulder. Neither of us knew it was there the whole time we talked.”

“Wait,” Lance frowned as he turned to Keith, “Is that...is that why Iverson tried to not have him do stuff at first? I thought it was because Keith...was incompetent or something...But now...Oh man.”

“Yeah,” Shiro nodded as he too gazed at his best friend, “Iverson tried to pull him from the classes he could get hurt in like the combat class. And Admiral Sanda was not any better, ready to block anything Keith tried to do including taking trips on the hoverbikes. I didn’t know about it until much later, but I was there when Keith went through it all.”

“Well,” Allura spoke up with a frown, “I’m going to work on the plans...I’ll...I’m going.”

And she left the room. Shiro knew she just needed time to adjust to it all, and even more time to go over it all. Just at that time, the pod’s glass evaporated like melting ice as fog curled around the air. Keith was barely waking up when Shiro reached to catch him. As the younger fell into his arms, he lifted him up while making sure he was okay.

“Sh-shiro?” The younger blinked at him before his eyes swept to the others, taking in Allura being missing and instantly putting it all together, “They know?”

“And we don’t care,” Pidge spoke as the three younger stood just behind them, “Shiro was right when he said that you are still you.”

“Yeah, man,” Lance stated as he looked at Keith with a happy face, “You’re not scary or anything. I bet I can still beat you in training.”

“I...um…” Keith glanced from Shiro to the other, clearly lost and having prepared for the worst, “Keep dreaming?”

The whole group busted out laughing as Hunk quickly scooped him up into a hug. He let out a small squeak of surprise before he softened, relaxing after a moment and dropping his head onto the other teen’s shoulder. Shiro grinned fondly as the other two hugged him from both sides. Coran joined in enthusiastically with a grin, taking up a spot just behind Pidge. Shiro was glad they weren’t changing too much when it came to Keith.

He wrapped his arms around the other from the back, and Keith leaned his head back on his chest, a content sigh leaving his lips. Shiro glanced up just in time to see the leader of the Blade nod to them before he and Antok left the room, likely going to speak with Allura. A smaller hand dragged him back from his thoughts as Keith’s dark orbs watched him, a tiny smile on his lips.

“Thanks, Shiro.”

“I’m always here for you, Keith,” Shiro replied before resting his chin on the other’s hair, “And I always will be.”


End file.
